Methods for Non-Invasive Prenatal Ploidy Calling

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/795,973, filed Feb. 20, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/399,991, filed Apr. 30, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/532,666, filed Nov. 4, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,322,224, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/791,397, filed Mar. 8, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,163,282, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/300,235, filed Nov. 18, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,017,812, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/110,685, filed May 18, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,825,412. U.S. application Ser. No. 13/110,685 claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/395,850, filed May 18, 2010; U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/398,159, filed Jun. 21, 2010; U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/462,972, filed Feb. 9, 2011; U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/448,547, filed Mar. 2, 2011; and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/516,996, filed Apr. 12, 2011. U.S. application Ser. No. 13/300,235 claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/571,248, filed Jun. 23, 2011 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/542,508, filed Oct. 3, 2011. The entirety of all these applications are hereby incorporated herein by reference for the teachings therein.

The instant application contains a Sequence Listing which has been submitted electronically in XML format and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Said XML copy, created on Apr. 21, 2025, is named N_004_US_73_SL.xml and is 16,470 bytes in size.

The present disclosure relates generally to methods for non-invasive prenatal ploidy calling.

Current methods of prenatal diagnosis can alert physicians and parents to abnormalities in growing fetuses. Without prenatal diagnosis, one in 50 babies is born with serious physical or mental handicap, and as many as one in 30 will have some form of congenital malformation. Unfortunately, standard methods have either poor accuracy, or involve an invasive procedure that carries a risk of miscarriage. Methods based on maternal blood hormone levels or ultrasound measurements are non-invasive, however, they also have low accuracies. Methods such as amniocentesis, chorion villus biopsy and fetal blood sampling have high accuracy, but are invasive and carry significant risks. Amniocentesis was performed in approximately 3% of all pregnancies in the US, though its frequency of use has been decreasing over the past decade and a half.

It has recently been discovered that cell-free fetal DNA and intact fetal cells can enter maternal blood circulation. Consequently, analysis of this genetic material can allow early Non-Invasive Prenatal Genetic Diagnosis (NPD).

Normal humans have two sets of 23 chromosomes in every healthy, diploid cell, with one copy coming from each parent. Aneuploidy, a condition in a nuclear cell where the cell contains too many and/or too few chromosomes is believed to be responsible for a large percentage of failed implantations, miscarriages, and genetic diseases. Detection of chromosomal abnormalities can identify individuals or embryos with conditions such as Down syndrome, Klinefelter's syndrome, and Turner syndrome, among others, in addition to increasing the chances of a successful pregnancy. Testing for chromosomal abnormalities is especially important as the mother's age: between the ages of 35 and 40 it is estimated that at least 40% of the embryos are abnormal, and above the age of 40, more than half of the embryos are abnormal.

Low levels of pregnancy-associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A) as measured in maternal serum during the first trimester may be associated with fetal chromosomal anomalies including trisomies 13, 18, and 21. In addition, low PAPP-A levels in the first trimester may predict an adverse pregnancy outcome, including a small for gestational age (SGA) baby or stillbirth. Pregnant women often undergo the first trimester serum screen, which commonly involves testing women for blood levels of the hormones PAPP-A and beta human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-hCG). In some cases women are also given an ultrasound to look for possible physiological defects. In particular, the nuchal translucency (NT) measurement can indicate risk of aneuploidy in a fetus. In many areas, the standard of treatment for prenatal screening includes the first trimester serum screen combined with an NT test.

The triple test, also called triple screen, the Kettering test or the Bart's test, is an investigation performed during pregnancy in the second trimester to classify a patient as either high-risk or low-risk for chromosomal abnormalities (and neural tube defects). The term “multiple-marker screening test” is sometimes used instead. The term “triple test” can encompass the terms “double test,” “quadruple test,” “quad test” and “penta test.”

The triple test measures serum levels of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), unconjugated estriol (UE), beta human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-hCG), Invasive Trophoblast Antigen (ITA) and/or inhibin. A positive test means having a high risk of chromosomal abnormalities (and neural tube defects), and such patients are then referred for more sensitive and specific procedures to receive a definitive diagnosis, mostly invasive procedures like amniocentesis. The triple test can be used to screen for a number of conditions, including trisomy 21 (Down syndrome). In addition to Down syndrome, the triple and quadruple tests screen for fetal trisomy 18 also known as Edward's syndrome, open neural tube defects, and may also detect an increased risk of Turner syndrome, triploidy, trisomy 16 mosaicism, fetal death, Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome, and steroid sulfatase deficiency.

Disclosed herein are methods for determining a ploidy status of a chromosome in a gestating fetus. According to aspects illustrated herein, in an embodiment a method for determining a ploidy status of a chromosome in a gestating fetus includes obtaining a first sample of DNA that comprises maternal DNA from the mother of the fetus and fetal DNA from the fetus, preparing the first sample by isolating the DNA so as to obtain a prepared sample, measuring the DNA in the prepared sample at a plurality of polymorphic loci on the chromosome, calculating, on a computer, allele counts at the plurality of polymorphic loci from the DNA measurements made on the prepared sample, creating, on a computer, a plurality of ploidy hypotheses each pertaining to a different possible ploidy state of the chromosome, building, on a computer, a joint distribution model for the expected allele counts at the plurality of polymorphic loci on the chromosome for each ploidy hypothesis, determining, on a computer, a relative probability of each of the ploidy hypotheses using the joint distribution model and the allele counts measured on the prepared sample, and calling the ploidy state of the fetus by selecting the ploidy state corresponding to the hypothesis with the greatest probability.

In some embodiments, the DNA in the first sample originates from maternal plasma. In some embodiments, preparing the first sample further comprises amplifying the DNA. In some embodiments, preparing the first sample further comprises preferentially enriching the DNA in the first sample at a plurality of polymorphic loci.

In some embodiments, preferentially enriching the DNA in the first sample at the plurality of polymorphic loci includes obtaining a plurality of pre-circularized probes where each probe targets one of the polymorphic loci, and where the 3′ and 5′ end of the probes are designed to hybridize to a region of DNA that is separated from the polymorphic site of the locus by a small number of bases, where the small number is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 to 25, 26 to 30, 31 to 60, or a combination thereof, hybridizing the pre-circularized probes to DNA from the first sample, filling the gap between the hybridized probe ends using DNA polymerase, circularizing the pre-circularized probe, and amplifying the circularized probe.

In some embodiments, the preferentially enriching the DNA at the plurality of polymorphic loci includes obtaining a plurality of ligation-mediated PCR probes where each PCR probe targets one of the polymorphic loci, and where the upstream and downstream PCR probes are designed to hybridize to a region of DNA, on one strand of DNA, that is separated from the polymorphic site of the locus by a small number of bases, where the small number is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 to 25, 26 to 30, 31 to 60, or a combination thereof, hybridizing the ligation-mediated PCR probes to the DNA from the first sample, filling the gap between the ligation-mediated PCR probe ends using DNA polymerase, ligating the ligation-mediated PCR probes, and amplifying the ligated ligation-mediated PCR probes.

In some embodiments, preferentially enriching the DNA at the plurality of polymorphic loci includes obtaining a plurality of hybrid capture probes that target the polymorphic loci, hybridizing the hybrid capture probes to the DNA in the first sample and physically removing some or all of the unhybridized DNA from the first sample of DNA.

In some embodiments, the hybrid capture probes are designed to hybridize to a region that is flanking but not overlapping the polymorphic site. In some embodiments, the hybrid capture probes are designed to hybridize to a region that is flanking but not overlapping the polymorphic site, and where the length of the flanking capture probe may be selected from the group consisting of less than about 120 bases, less than about 110 bases, less than about 100 bases, less than about 90 bases, less than about 80 bases, less than about 70 bases, less than about 60 bases, less than about 50 bases, less than about 40 bases, less than about 30 bases, and less than about 25 bases. In some embodiments, the hybrid capture probes are designed to hybridize to a region that overlaps the polymorphic site, and where the plurality of hybrid capture probes comprise at least two hybrid capture probes for each polymorphic loci, and where each hybrid capture probe is designed to be complementary to a different allele at that polymorphic locus.

In some embodiments, preferentially enriching the DNA at a plurality of polymorphic loci includes obtaining a plurality of inner forward primers where each primer targets one of the polymorphic loci, and where the 3′ end of the inner forward primers are designed to hybridize to a region of DNA upstream from the polymorphic site, and separated from the polymorphic site by a small number of bases, where the small number is selected from the group consisting of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 to 10, 11 to 15, 16 to 20, 21 to 25, 26 to 30, or 31 to 60 base pairs, optionally obtaining a plurality of inner reverse primers where each primer targets one of the polymorphic loci, and where the 3′ end of the inner reverse primers are designed to hybridize to a region of DNA upstream from the polymorphic site, and separated from the polymorphic site by a small number of bases, where the small number is selected from the group consisting of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 to 10, 11 to 15, 16 to 20, 21 to 25, 26 to 30, or 31 to 60 base pairs, hybridizing the inner primers to the DNA, and amplifying the DNA using the polymerase chain reaction to form amplicons.

In some embodiments, the method also includes obtaining a plurality of outer forward primers where each primer targets one of the polymorphic loci, and where the outer forward primers are designed to hybridize to the region of DNA upstream from the inner forward primer, optionally obtaining a plurality of outer reverse primers where each primer targets one of the polymorphic loci, and where the outer reverse primers are designed to hybridize to the region of DNA immediately downstream from the inner reverse primer, hybridizing the first primers to the DNA, and amplifying the DNA using the polymerase chain reaction.

In some embodiments, the method also includes obtaining a plurality of outer reverse primers where each primer targets one of the polymorphic loci, and where the outer reverse primers are designed to hybridize to the region of DNA immediately downstream from the inner reverse primer, optionally obtaining a plurality of outer forward primers where each primer targets one of the polymorphic loci, and where the outer forward primers are designed to hybridize to the region of DNA upstream from the inner forward primer, hybridizing the first primers to the DNA, and amplifying the DNA using the polymerase chain reaction.

In some embodiments, preparing the first sample further includes appending universal adapters to the DNA in the first sample and amplifying the DNA in the first sample using the polymerase chain reaction. In some embodiments, at least a fraction of the amplicons that are amplified are less than 100 bp, less than 90 bp, less than 80 bp, less than 70 bp, less than 65 bp, less than 60 bp, less than 55 bp, less than 50 bp, or less than 45 bp, and where the fraction is 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, or 99%.

In some embodiments, amplifying the DNA is done in one or a plurality of individual reaction volumes, and where each individual reaction volume contains more than 100 different forward and reverse primer pairs, more than 200 different forward and reverse primer pairs, more than 500 different forward and reverse primer pairs, more than 1,000 different forward and reverse primer pairs, more than 2,000 different forward and reverse primer pairs, more than 5,000 different forward and reverse primer pairs, more than 10,000 different forward and reverse primer pairs, more than 20,000 different forward and reverse primer pairs, more than 50,000 different forward and reverse primer pairs, or more than 100,000 different forward and reverse primer pairs.

In some embodiments, preparing the first sample further comprises dividing the first sample into a plurality of portions, and where the DNA in each portion is preferentially enriched at a subset of the plurality of polymorphic loci. In some embodiments, the inner primers are selected by identifying primer pairs likely to form undesired primer duplexes and removing from the plurality of primers at least one of the pair of primers identified as being likely to form undesired primer duplexes. In some embodiments, the inner primers contain a region that is designed to hybridize either upstream or downstream of the targeted polymorphic locus, and optionally contain a universal priming sequence designed to allow PCR amplification. In some embodiments, at least some of the primers additionally contain a random region that differs for each individual primer molecule. In some embodiments, at least some of the primers additionally contain a molecular barcode.

In some embodiments, the method also includes obtaining genotypic data from one or both parents of the fetus. In some embodiments, obtaining genotypic data from one or both parents of the fetus includes preparing the DNA from the parents where the preparing comprises preferentially enriching the DNA at the plurality of polymorphic loci to give prepared parental DNA, optionally amplifying the prepared parental DNA, and measuring the parental DNA in the prepared sample at the plurality of polymorphic loci.

In some embodiments, building a joint distribution model for the expected allele count probabilities of the plurality of polymorphic loci on the chromosome is done using the obtained genetic data from the one or both parents. In some embodiments, the first sample has been isolated from maternal plasma and where the obtaining genotypic data from the mother is done by estimating the maternal genotypic data from the DNA measurements made on the prepared sample.

In some embodiments, preferential enrichment results in average degree of allelic bias between the prepared sample and the first sample of a factor selected from the group consisting of no more than a factor of 2, no more than a factor of 1.5, no more than a factor of 1.2, no more than a factor of 1.1, no more than a factor of 1.05, no more than a factor of 1.02, no more than a factor of 1.01, no more than a factor of 1.005, no more than a factor of 1.002, no more than a factor of 1.001 and no more than a factor of 1.0001. In some embodiments, the plurality of polymorphic loci are SNPs. In some embodiments, measuring the DNA in the prepared sample is done by sequencing.

In some embodiments, a diagnostic box is disclosed for helping to determine a ploidy status of a chromosome in a gestating fetus where the diagnostic box is capable of executing the preparing and measuring steps of the method of claim.

In some embodiments, the allele counts are probabilistic rather than binary. In some embodiments, measurements of the DNA in the prepared sample at the plurality of polymorphic loci are also used to determine whether or not the fetus has inherited one or a plurality of disease linked haplotypes.

In some embodiments, building a joint distribution model for allele count probabilities is done by using data about the probability of chromosomes crossing over at different locations in a chromosome to model dependence between polymorphic alleles on the chromosome. In some embodiments, building a joint distribution model for allele counts and the step of determining the relative probability of each hypothesis are done using a method that does not require the use of a reference chromosome.

In some embodiments, determining the relative probability of each hypothesis makes use of an estimated fraction of fetal DNA in the prepared sample. In some embodiments, the DNA measurements from the prepared sample used in calculating allele count probabilities and determining the relative probability of each hypothesis comprise primary genetic data. In some embodiments, selecting the ploidy state corresponding to the hypothesis with the greatest probability is carried out using maximum likelihood estimates or maximum a posteriori estimates.

In some embodiments, calling the ploidy state of the fetus also includes combining the relative probabilities of each of the ploidy hypotheses determined using the joint distribution model and the allele count probabilities with relative probabilities of each of the ploidy hypotheses that are calculated using statistical techniques taken from a group consisting of a read count analysis, comparing heterozygosity rates, a statistic that is only available when parental genetic information is used, the probability of normalized genotype signals for certain parent contexts, a statistic that is calculated using an estimated fetal fraction of the first sample or the prepared sample, and combinations thereof.

In some embodiments, a confidence estimate is calculated for the called ploidy state. In some embodiments, the method also includes taking a clinical action based on the called ploidy state of the fetus, wherein the clinical action is selected from one of terminating the pregnancy or maintaining the pregnancy.

In some embodiments, the method may be performed for fetuses at between 4 and 5 weeks gestation; between 5 and 6 weeks gestation; between 6 and 7 weeks gestation; between 7 and 8 weeks gestation; between 8 and 9 weeks gestation; between 9 and 10 weeks gestation; between 10 and 12 weeks gestation; between 12 and 14 weeks gestation; between 14 and 20 weeks gestation; between 20 and 40 weeks gestation; in the first trimester; in the second trimester; in the third trimester; or combinations thereof.

In some embodiments, a report displaying a determined ploidy status of a chromosome in a gestating fetus generated using the method. In some embodiments, a kit is disclosed for determining a ploidy status of a target chromosome in a gestating fetus designed to be used with the method of claim, the kit including a plurality of inner forward primers and optionally the plurality of inner reverse primers, where each of the primers is designed to hybridize to the region of DNA immediately upstream and/or downstream from one of the polymorphic sites on the target chromosome, and optionally additional chromosomes, where the region of hybridization is separated from the polymorphic site by a small number of bases, where the small number is selected from the group consisting of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 to 10, 11 to 15, 16 to 20, 21 to 25, 26 to 30, 31 to 60, and combinations thereof.

In some embodiments, a method is disclosed for determining presence or absence of fetal aneuploidy in a maternal tissue sample comprising fetal and maternal genomic DNA, the method including (a) obtaining a mixture of fetal and maternal genomic DNA from said maternal tissue sample, (b) conducting massively parallel DNA sequencing of DNA fragments randomly selected from the mixture of fetal and maternal genomic DNA of step a) to determine the sequence of said DNA fragments, (c) identifying chromosomes to which the sequences obtained in step b) belong, (d) using the data of step c) to determine an amount of at least one first chromosome in said mixture of maternal and fetal genomic DNA, wherein said at least one first chromosome is presumed to be euploid in the fetus, (e) using the data of step c) to determine an amount of a second chromosome in said mixture of maternal and fetal genomic DNA, wherein said second chromosome is suspected to be aneuploid in the fetus, (f) calculating the fraction of fetal DNA in the mixture of fetal and maternal DNA, (g) calculating an expected distribution of the amount of the second target chromosome if the second target chromosome is euploid, using the number in step d), (h) calculating an expected distribution of the amount of the second target chromosome if the second target chromosome is aneuploid, using the first number is step d) and the calculated fraction of fetal DNA in the mixture of fetal and maternal DNA in step f), and (i) using a maximum likelihood or maximum a posteriori approach to determine whether the amount of the second chromosome as determined in step e) is more likely to be part of the distribution calculated in step g) or the distribution calculated in step h); thereby indicating the presence or absence of a fetal aneuploidy.

While the above-identified drawings set forth presently disclosed embodiments, other embodiments are also contemplated, as noted in the discussion. This disclosure presents illustrative embodiments by way of representation and not limitation. Numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art which fall within the scope and spirit of the principles of the presently disclosed embodiments.

In an embodiment, the present disclosure provides ex vivo methods for determining the ploidy status of a chromosome in a gestating fetus from genotypic data measured from a mixed sample of DNA (i.e., DNA from the mother of the fetus, and DNA from the fetus) and optionally from genotypic data measured from a sample of genetic material from the mother and possibly also from the father, wherein the determining is done by using a joint distribution model to create a set of expected allele distributions for different possible fetal ploidy states given the parental genotypic data, and comparing the expected allelic distributions to the actual allelic distributions measured in the mixed sample, and choosing the ploidy state whose expected allelic distribution pattern most closely matches the observed allelic distribution pattern. In an embodiment, the mixed sample is derived from maternal blood, or maternal serum or plasma. In an embodiment, the mixed sample of DNA may be preferentially enriched at a plurality of polymorphic loci. In an embodiment, the preferential enrichment is done in a way that minimizes the allelic bias. In an embodiment, the present disclosure relates to a composition of DNA that has been preferentially enriched at a plurality of loci such that the allelic bias is low. In an embodiment, the allelic distribution(s) are measured by sequencing the DNA from the mixed sample. In an embodiment, the joint distribution model assumes that the alleles will be distributed in a binomial fashion. In an embodiment, the set of expected joint allele distributions are created for genetically linked loci while considering the extant recombination frequencies from various sources, for example, using data from the International HapMap Consortium.

In an embodiment, the present disclosure provides methods for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis (NPD), specifically, determining the aneuploidy status of a fetus by observing allele measurements at a plurality of polymorphic loci in genotypic data measured on DNA mixtures, where certain allele measurements are indicative of an aneuploid fetus, while other allele measurements are indicative of a euploid fetus. In an embodiment, the genotypic data is measured by sequencing DNA mixtures that were derived from maternal plasma. In an embodiment, the DNA sample may be preferentially enriched in molecules of DNA that correspond to the plurality of loci whose allele distributions are being calculated. In an embodiment a sample of DNA comprising only or almost only genetic material from the mother and possibly also a sample of DNA comprising only or almost only genetic material from the father are measured. In an embodiment, the genetic measurements of one or both parents along with the estimated fetal fraction are used to create a plurality of expected allele distributions corresponding to different possible underlying genetic states of the fetus; the expected allele distributions may be termed hypotheses. In an embodiment, the maternal genetic data is not determined by measuring genetic material that is exclusively or almost exclusively maternal in nature, rather, it is estimated from the genetic measurements made on maternal plasma that comprises a mixture of maternal and fetal DNA. In some embodiments the hypotheses may comprise the ploidy of the fetus at one or more chromosomes, which segments of which chromosomes in the fetus were inherited from which parents, and combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the ploidy state of the fetus is determined by comparing the observed allele measurements to the different hypotheses where at least some of the hypotheses correspond to different ploidy states, and selecting the ploidy state that corresponds to the hypothesis that is most likely to be true given the observed allele measurements. In an embodiment, this method involves using allele measurement data from some or all measured SNPs, regardless of whether the loci are homozygous or heterozygous, and therefore does not involve using alleles at loci that are only heterozygous. This method may not be appropriate for situations where the genetic data pertains to only one polymorphic locus. This method is particularly advantageous when the genetic data comprises data for more than ten polymorphic loci for a target chromosome or more than twenty polymorphic loci. This method is especially advantageous when the genetic data comprises data for more than 50 polymorphic loci for a target chromosome, more than 100 polymorphic loci or more than 200 polymorphic loci for a target chromosome. In some embodiments, the genetic data may comprise data for more than 500 polymorphic loci for a target chromosome, more than 1,000 polymorphic loci, more than 2,000 polymorphic loci, or more than 5,000 polymorphic loci for a target chromosome.

In an embodiment, a method disclosed herein uses selective enrichment techniques that preserve the relative allele frequencies that are present in the original sample of DNA at each polymorphic locus from a set of polymorphic loci. In some embodiments the amplification and/or selective enrichment technique may involve PCR such as ligation mediated PCR, fragment capture by hybridization, MOLECULAR INVERSION PROBES, or other circularizing probes. In some embodiments, methods for amplification or selective enrichment may involve using probes where, upon correct hybridization to the target sequence, the 3-prime end or 5-prime end of a nucleotide probe is separated from the polymorphic site of the allele by a small number of nucleotides. This separation reduces preferential amplification of one allele, termed allele bias. This is an improvement over methods that involve using probes where the 3-prime end or 5-prime end of a correctly hybridized probe are directly adjacent to or very near to the polymorphic site of an allele. In an embodiment, probes in which the hybridizing region may or certainly contains a polymorphic site are excluded. Polymorphic sites at the site of hybridization can cause unequal hybridization or inhibit hybridization altogether in some alleles, resulting in preferential amplification of certain alleles. These embodiments are improvements over other methods that involve targeted amplification and/or selective enrichment in that they better preserve the original allele frequencies of the sample at each polymorphic locus, whether the sample is pure genomic sample from a single individual or mixture of individuals.

In an embodiment, a method disclosed herein uses highly efficient highly multiplexed targeted PCR to amplify DNA followed by high throughput sequencing to determine the allele frequencies at each target locus. The ability to multiplex more than about 50 or 100 PCR primers in one reaction in a way that most of the resulting sequence reads map to targeted loci is novel and non-obvious. One technique that allows highly multiplexed targeted PCR to perform in a highly efficient manner involves designing primers that are unlikely to hybridize with one another. The PCR probes, typically referred to as primers, are selected by creating a thermodynamic model of potentially adverse interactions between at least 500, at least 1,000, at least 5,000, at least 10,000, at least 20,000, at least 50,000, or at least 100,000 potential primer pairs, or unintended interactions between primers and sample DNA, and then using the model to eliminate designs that are incompatible with other the designs in the pool. Another technique that allows highly multiplexed targeted PCR to perform in a highly efficient manner is using a partial or full nesting approach to the targeted PCR. Using one or a combination of these approaches allows multiplexing of at least 300, at least 800, at least 1,200, at least 4,000 or at least 10,000 primers in a single pool with the resulting amplified DNA comprising a majority of DNA molecules that, when sequenced, will map to targeted loci. Using one or a combination of these approaches allows multiplexing of a large number of primers in a single pool with the resulting amplified DNA comprising greater than 50%, greater than 80%, greater than 90%, greater than 95%, greater than 98%, or greater than 99% DNA molecules that map to targeted loci.

In an embodiment, a method disclosed herein yields a quantitative measure of the number of independent observations of each allele at a polymorphic locus. This is unlike most methods such as microarrays or qualitative PCR which provide information about the ratio of two alleles but do not quantify the number of independent observations of either allele. With methods that provide quantitative information regarding the number of independent observations, only the ratio is utilized in ploidy calculations, while the quantitative information by itself is not useful. To illustrate the importance of retaining information about the number of independent observations consider the sample locus with two alleles, A and B. In a first experiment twenty A alleles and twenty B alleles are observed, in a second experiment 200 A alleles and 200 B alleles are observed. In both experiments the ratio (A/(A+B)) is equal to 0.5, however the second experiment conveys more information than the first about the certainty of the frequency of the A or B allele. Some methods known in the prior art involve averaging or summing allele ratios (channel ratios) (i.e. x/y) from individual allele and analyzes this ratio, either comparing it to a reference chromosome or using a rule pertaining to how this ratio is expected to behave in particular situations. No allele weighting is implied in such methods known in the art, where it is assumed that one can ensure about the same amount of PCR product for each allele and that all the alleles should behave the same way. Such a method has a number of disadvantages, and more importantly, precludes the use a number of improvements that are described elsewhere in this disclosure.

In an embodiment, a method disclosed herein explicitly models the allele frequency distributions expected in disomy as well as a plurality of allele frequency distributions that may be expected in cases of trisomy resulting from nondisjunction during meiosis I, nondisjunction during meiosis II, and/or nondisjunction during mitosis early in fetal development. To illustrate why this is important, imagine a case where there were no crossovers: nondisjunction during meiosis I would result a trisomy in which two different homologs were inherited from one parent; in contrast, nondisjunction during meiosis II or during mitosis early in fetal development would result in two copies of the same homolog from one parent. Each scenario would result in different expected allele frequencies at each polymorphic locus and also at all loci considered jointly, due to genetic linkage. Crossovers, which result in the exchange of genetic material between homologs, make the inheritance pattern more complex; in an embodiment, the instant method accommodates for this by using recombination rate information in addition to the physical distance between loci. In an embodiment, to enable improved distinction between meiosis I nondisjunction and meiosis II or mitotic nondisjunction the instant method incorporate into the model an increasing probability of crossover as the distance from the centromere increases. Meiosis II and mitotic nondisjunction can distinguished by the fact that mitotic nondisjunction typically results in identical or nearly identical copies of one homolog while the two homologs present following a meiosis II nondisjunction event often differ due to one or more crossovers during gametogenesis.

In some embodiments, a method disclosed herein involves comparing the observed allele measurements to theoretical hypotheses corresponding to possible fetal genetic aneuploidy, and does not involve a step of quantitating a ratio of alleles at a heterozygous locus. Where the number of loci is lower than about 20, the ploidy determination made using a method comprising quantitating a ratio of alleles at a heterozygous locus and a ploidy determination made using a method comprising comparing the observed allele measurements to theoretical allele distribution hypotheses corresponding to possible fetal genetic states may give a similar result. However, where the number of loci is above 50 these two methods is likely to give significantly different results; where the number of loci is above 400, above, 1,000 or above 2,000 these two methods are very likely to give results that are increasingly significantly different. These differences are due to the fact that a method that comprises quantitating a ratio of alleles at a heterozygous locus without measuring the magnitude of each allele independently and aggregating or averaging the ratios precludes the use of techniques including using a joint distribution model, performing a linkage analysis, using a binomial distribution model, and/or other advanced statistical techniques, whereas using a method comprising comparing the observed allele measurements to theoretical allele distribution hypotheses corresponding to possible fetal genetic states may use these techniques which can substantially increase the accuracy of the determination.

In an embodiment, a method disclosed herein involves determining whether the distribution of observed allele measurements is indicative of a euploid or an aneuploid fetus using a joint distribution model. The use of a joint distribution model is a different from and a significant improvement over methods that determine heterozygosity rates by treating polymorphic loci independently in that the resultant determinations are of significantly higher accuracy. Without being bound by any particular theory, it is believed that one reason they are of higher accuracy is that the joint distribution model takes into account the linkage between SNPs, and likelihood of crossovers having occurred during the meiosis that gave rise to the gametes that formed the embryo that grew into the fetus. The purpose of using the concept of linkage when creating the expected distribution of allele measurements for one or more hypotheses is that it allows the creation of expected allele measurements distributions that correspond to reality considerably better than when linkage is not used. For example, imagine that there are two SNPs, 1 and 2 located nearby one another, and the mother is A at SNP 1 and A at SNP 2 on one homolog, and B at SNP 1 and B at SNP 2 on homolog two. If the father is A for both SNPs on both homologs, and a B is measured for the fetus SNP 1, this indicates that homolog two has been inherited by the fetus, and therefore that there is a much higher likelihood of a B being present on the fetus at SNP 2. A model that takes into account linkage would predict this, while a model that does not take linkage into account would not. Alternately, if a mother was AB at SNP 1 and AB at nearby SNP 2, then two hypotheses corresponding to maternal trisomy at that location could be used—one involving a matching copy error (nondisjunction in meiosis II or mitosis in early fetal development), and one involving an unmatching copy error (nondisjunction in meiosis I). In the case of a matching copy error trisomy, if the fetus inherited an AA from the mother at SNP 1, then the fetus is much more likely to inherit either an AA or BB from the mother at SNP 2, but not AB. In the case of an unmatching copy error, the fetus would inherit an AB from the mother at both SNPs. The allele distribution hypotheses made by a ploidy calling method that takes into account linkage would make these predictions, and therefore correspond to the actual allele measurements to a considerably greater extent than a ploidy calling method that did not take into account linkage. Note that a linkage approach is not possible when using a method that relies on calculating allele ratios and aggregating those allele ratios.

One reason that it is believed that ploidy determinations that use a method that comprises comparing the observed allele measurements to theoretical hypotheses corresponding to possible fetal genetic states are of higher accuracy is that when sequencing is used to measure the alleles, this method can glean more information from data from alleles where the total number of reads is low than other methods; for example, a method that relies on calculating and aggregating allele ratios would produce disproportionately weighted stochastic noise. For example, imagine a case that involved measuring the alleles using sequencing, and where there was a set of loci where only five sequence reads were detected for each locus. In an embodiment, for each of the alleles, the data may be compared to the hypothesized allele distribution, and weighted according to the number of sequence reads; therefore the data from these measurements would be appropriately weighted and incorporated into the overall determination. This is in contrast to a method that involved quantitating a ratio of alleles at a heterozygous locus, as this method could only calculate ratios of 0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% or 100% as the possible allele ratios; none of these may be close to expected allele ratios. In this latter case, the calculated allele rations would either have to be discarded due to insufficient reads or else would have disproportionate weighting and introduce stochastic noise into the determination, thereby decreasing the accuracy of the determination. In an embodiment, the individual allele measurements may be treated as independent measurements, where the relationship between measurements made on alleles at the same locus is no different from the relationship between measurements made on alleles at different loci.

In an embodiment, a method disclosed herein involves determining whether the distribution of observed allele measurements is indicative of a euploid or an aneuploid fetus without comparing any metrics to observed allele measurements on a reference chromosome that is expected to be disomic (termed the RC method). This is a significant improvement over methods, such as methods using shotgun sequencing which detect aneuploidy by evaluating the proportion of randomly sequenced fragments from a suspect chromosomes relative to one or more presumed disomic reference chromosome. This RC method yields incorrect results if the presumed disomic reference chromosome is not actually disomic. This can occur in cases where aneuploidy is more substantial than trisomy of a single chromosome or where the fetus is triploid and all autosomes are trisomic. In the case of a female triploid (69, XXX) fetus there are in fact no disomic chromosomes at all. The method described herein does not require a reference chromosome and would be able to correctly identify trisomic chromosomes in a female triploid fetus. For each chromosome, hypothesis, child fraction and noise level, a joint distribution model may be fit, without any of: reference chromosome data, an overall child fraction estimate, or a fixed reference hypothesis.

In an embodiment, a method disclosed herein demonstrates how observing allele distributions at polymorphic loci can be used to determine the ploidy state of a fetus with greater accuracy than methods in the prior art. In an embodiment, the method uses the targeted sequencing to obtain mixed maternal-fetal genotypes and optionally mother and/or father genotypes at a plurality of SNPs to first establish the various expected allele frequency distributions under the different hypotheses, and then observing the quantitative allele information obtained on the maternal-fetal mixture and evaluating which hypothesis fits the data best, where the genetic state corresponding to the hypothesis with the best fit to the data is called as the correct genetic state. In an embodiment, a method disclosed herein also uses the degree of fit to generate a confidence that the called genetic state is the correct genetic state. In an embodiment, a method disclosed herein involves using algorithms that analyze the distribution of alleles found for loci that have different parental contexts, and comparing the observed allele distributions to the expected allele distributions for different ploidy states for the different parental contexts (different parental genotypic patterns). This is different from and an improvement over methods that do not use methods that enable the estimation of the number of independent instances of each allele at each locus in a mixed maternal-fetal sample. In an embodiment, a method disclosed herein involves determining whether the distribution of observed allele measurements is indicative of a euploid or an aneuploid fetus using observed allelic distributions measured at loci where the mother is heterozygous. This is different from and an improvement over methods that do not use observed allelic distributions at loci where the mother is heterozygous because, in cases where the DNA is not preferentially enriched or is preferentially enriched for loci that are not known to be highly informative for that particular target individual, it allows the use of about twice as much genetic measurement data from a set of sequence data in the ploidy determination, resulting in a more accurate determination.

In an embodiment, a method disclosed herein uses a joint distribution model that assumes that the allele frequences at each locus are multinomial (and thus binomial when SNPs are biallelic) in nature. In some embodiments the joint distribution model uses beta-binomial distributions. When using a measuring technique, such as sequencing, provides a quantitative measure for each allele present at each locus, binomial model can be applied to each locus and the degree underlying allele frequencies and the confidence in that frequency can be ascertained. With methods known in the art that generate ploidy calls from allele ratios, or methods in which quantitative allele information is discarded, the certainty in the observed ratio cannot be ascertained. The instant method is different from and an improvement over methods that calculate allele ratios and aggregate those ratios to make a ploidy call, since any method that involves calculating an allele ratio at a particular locus, and then aggregating those ratios, necessarily assumes that the measured intensities or counts that are indicative of the amount of DNA from any given allele or locus will be distributed in a Gaussian fashion. The method disclosed herein does not involve calculating allele ratios. In some embodiments, a method disclosed herein may involve incorporating the number of observations of each allele at a plurality of loci into a model. In some embodiments, a method disclosed herein may involve calculating the expected distributions themselves, allowing the use of a joint binomial distribution model which may be more accurate than any model that assumes a Gaussian distribution of allele measurements. The likelihood that the binomial distribution model is significantly more accurate than the Gaussian distribution increases as the number of loci increases. For example, when fewer than 20 loci are interrogated, the likelihood that the binomial distribution model is significantly better is low. However, when more than 100, or especially more than 400, or especially more than 1,000, or especially more than 2,000 loci are used, the binomial distribution model will have a very high likelihood of being significantly more accurate than the Gaussian distribution model, thereby resulting in a more accurate ploidy determination. The likelihood that the binomial distribution model is significantly more accurate than the Gaussian distribution also increases as the number of observations at each locus increases. For example, when fewer than 10 distinct sequences are observed at each locus are observed, the likelihood that the binomial distribution model is significantly better is low. However, when more than 50 sequence reads, or especially more than 100 sequence reads, or especially more than 200 sequence reads, or especially more than 300 sequence reads are used for each locus, the binomial distribution model will have a very high likelihood of being significantly more accurate than the Gaussian distribution model, thereby resulting in a more accurate ploidy determination.

In an embodiment, a method disclosed herein uses sequencing to measure the number of instances of each allele at each locus in a DNA sample. Each sequencing read may be mapped to a specific locus and treated as a binary sequence read; alternately, the probability of the identity of the read and/or the mapping may be incorporated as part of the sequence read, resulting in a probabilistic sequence read, that is, the probable whole or fractional number of sequence reads that map to a given loci. Using the binary counts or probability of counts it is possible to use a binomial distribution for each set of measurements, allowing a confidence interval to be calculated around the number of counts. This ability to use the binomial distribution allows for more accurate ploidy estimations and more precise confidence intervals to be calculated. This is different from and an improvement over methods that use intensities to measure the amount of an allele present, for example methods that use microarrays, or methods that make measurements using fluorescence readers to measure the intensity of fluorescently tagged DNA in electrophoretic bands.

In an embodiment, a method disclosed herein uses aspects of the present set of data to determine parameters for the estimated allele frequency distribution for that set of data. This is an improvement over methods that utilize training set of data or prior sets of data to set parameters for the present expected allele frequency distributions, or possibly expected allele ratios. This is because there are different sets of conditions involved in the collection and measurement of every genetic sample, and thus a method that uses data from the instant set of data to determine the parameters for the joint distribution model that is to be used in the ploidy determination for that sample will tend to be more accurate.

In an embodiment, a method disclosed herein involves determining whether the distribution of observed allele measurements is indicative of a euploid or an aneuploid fetus using a maximum likelihood technique. The use of a maximum likelihood technique is different from and a significant improvement over methods that use single hypothesis rejection technique in that the resultant determinations will be made with significantly higher accuracy. One reason is that single hypothesis rejection techniques set cut off thresholds based on only one measurement distribution rather than two, meaning that the thresholds are usually not optimal. Another reason is that the maximum likelihood technique allows the optimization of the cut off threshold for each individual sample instead of determining a cut off threshold to be used for all samples regardless of the particular characteristics of each individual sample. Another reason is that the use of a maximum likelihood technique allows the calculation of a confidence for each ploidy call. The ability to make a confidence calculation for each call allows a practitioner to know which calls are accurate, and which are more likely to be wrong. In some embodiments, a wide variety of methods may be combined with a maximum likelihood estimation technique to enhance the accuracy of the ploidy calls. In an embodiment, the maximum likelihood technique may be used in combination with the method described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,888,017. In an embodiment, the maximum likelihood technique may be used in combination with the method of using targeted PCR amplification to amplify the DNA in the mixed sample followed by sequencing and analysis using a read counting method such as used by TANDEM DIAGNOSTICS, as presented at the International Congress of Human Genetics 2011, in Montreal in October 2011. In an embodiment, a method disclosed herein involves estimating the fetal fraction of DNA in the mixed sample and using that estimation to calculate both the ploidy call and the confidence of the ploidy call. Note that this is both different and distinct from methods that use estimated fetal fraction as a screen for sufficient fetal fraction, followed by a ploidy call made using a single hypothesis rejection technique that does not take into account the fetal fraction nor does it produce a confidence calculation for the call.

In an embodiment, a method disclosed herein takes into account the tendency for the data to be noisy and contain errors by attaching a probability to each measurement. The use of maximum likelihood techniques to choose the correct hypothesis from the set of hypotheses that were made using the measurement data with attached probabilistic estimates makes it more likely that the incorrect measurements will be discounted, and the correct measurements will be used in the calculations that lead to the ploidy call. To be more precise, this method systematically reduces the influence of data that is incorrectly measured on the ploidy determination. This is an improvement over methods where all data is assumed to be equally correct or methods where outlying data is arbitrarily excluded from calculations leading to a ploidy call. Existing methods using channel ratio measurements claim to extend the method to multiple SNPs by averaging individual SNP channel ratios. Not weighting individual SNPs by expected measurement variance based on the SNP quality and observed depth of read reduces the accuracy of the resulting statistic, resulting in a reduction of the accuracy of the ploidy call significantly, especially in borderline cases.